Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

[Gymbow]

I have a new Fender Strat HSS MIM that I want to change out the pickups on for some better sound. From listening to many sound files, I really like the PG Trembucker for the bridge position, but am uncertain what would work out best sonically for the mid & neck pickups to match up with the PG. I'm leaning heavily towards noiseless single coils for the mid/neck pups. Here are a couple of pups I've been considering, but don't know how well these would match up with the PG.

- Kinman AVn-62
- Fender Vintage Noiseless

Note, I play Classic Rock, Southern Rock and Blues mostly with some Rock and NO Metal or Country. I like a clean sound and the occasional crunch, but not looking for heavy distortion.

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions from anyone familiar with the PG in a Strat setup.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Add Duncan Vintage Stacks to the list.
They're noisless and should keep up with the PG bridge.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

The classic Lonestar Strat combo is A5 Pearly Gates bridge (the original is wound ~.2k hotter, but that's not a drastic difference) and two Fender Texas Specials (or Antiquity Texas Hots if you wanna stick with Duncan) in the neck and middle. It's a very great set. Nice string single coils in the neck and middle matched with a PAF in the bridge make for nice volume matching as well.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

i dont think they texas hots and texas specials sound all that much alike. the ts sound harder and more strident maybe

if you want noiseless but classic strat tones that match well with a humbucker id get a pair of classic stack plus pups. if you dont care about the noiseless bit then ssl2, antiquity surfers or texas hots are fine choices. the ssl2 is a flat pole version of the ssl1 which i tend to like better, a very nice early 60's strat sound. the surfers are a refinement of that sound, a little more complexity in the mids and softer edge on the highs. the texas hots are a terrific set but not really classic fender, great mids with a warm high end and softer bottom.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

i dont think they texas hots and texas specials sound all that much alike. the ts sound harder and more strident maybe

if you want noiseless but classic strat tones that match well with a humbucker id get a pair of classic stack plus pups. if you dont care about the noiseless bit then ssl2, antiquity surfers or texas hots are fine choices. the ssl2 is a flat pole version of the ssl1 which i tend to like better, a very nice early 60's strat sound. the surfers are a refinement of that sound, a little more complexity in the mids and softer edge on the highs. the texas hots are a terrific set but not really classic fender, great mids with a warm high end and softer bottom.

I always get vintage stacks and classic stacks mixed up, at least as far as what they're named. So +1 to this suggestion.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Gymbow]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Add Duncan Vintage Stacks to the list.
They're noisless and should keep up with the PG bridge.

Thanks for the suggestion. When I do a search on Duncan Vintage Stacks, it's not clear to me which pickup you are referring to. Sorry about that. Do you have a part #?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

I love the Pearly Gates in the bridge of a Strat. I would recommend Fender Vintage Noiseless, should match very well and make a killer combo.

 

[Gymbow]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Chris: Thanks for that suggestion on the Lone Star setup. I've listened to a bunch of YouTube sound tracks, especially covering the Texas Specials, and there's some good sound coming from that combination. Unfortunately, I find them a bit hotter and noisier than I'd like.

Jeremy: Thanks for the Classic Stack Plus STK-S4, I'll check it out. I'm definitely wanting noiseless pups as I really dislike the hum from the stock single coils currently in my HSS MIM.

Has anyone tried either the Kinman AVn-62's or Fender Vintage Noiseless pups with a PG in the bridge? Still curious if either is a viable option.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Has anyone tried either the Kinman AVn-62's or Fender Vintage Noiseless pups with a PG in the bridge? Still curious if either is a viable option.

I can't speak for the Kinmans, but the Fender Vintage Noiseless aren't at all that great. They aren't bad, they just don't really have any real character. They lack Strat sparkle and can't really drive an amp too well. They kind of sound like a stock set that was designed to sound ok with just about any setup.

But the STK pickups Duncan makes are top notch, as others have said before.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Thanks for the suggestion. When I do a search on Duncan Vintage Stacks, it's not clear to me which pickup you are referring to. Sorry about that. Do you have a part #?

Jeremy named them correctly as Classic Stacks. They should be in the catalog as that.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Gymbow]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

I love the Pearly Gates in the bridge of a Strat. I would recommend Fender Vintage Noiseless, should match very well and make a killer combo.

Do you have the PG with Fender Vintage Noiseless combo? If so:
- Does it balance well, both level and sonically?
- The pots in my MIM are all 250K. Did you change any of them to 500K to match up with the PG pup or is it ok to leave them as is?

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Do you have the PG with Fender Vintage Noiseless combo? If so:
- Does it balance well, both level and sonically?
- The pots in my MIM are all 250K. Did you change any of them to 500K to match up with the PG pup or is it ok to leave them as is?

Sorry, I have not tried the two together. However, I think the Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups are a great set. That being said, I do prefer the Fender Fat 50s--would have recommended them but they are not Noiseless.

Well...in my MIM Strats in the past I always upgraded the pots to higher quality pots. I would say keep the pots and see how the 250k works with the PG. I usually use 500k pots with humbuckers but it is a personal preference thing that varies from pickups to pickups.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

The PG is a favorite of mine.

Here’s what one can sound like in a Strat if you can really play:

The Duncan Stacks are pretty awesome if you have to have humcancelling “single coils”.

But I prefer the tone and feel of Antiquity Surfers or SSL1’s.

I use the Ilitch backplate on my favorite Strat with Surfers.

Makes them noiseless/hum-free enough for me and retains the vintage 50’s/60’s tones I love and gotta have.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

a PG works so well with the SSL1 in neck and middle. THey're not noiseless, I know, but good shielding goes a long way. The tones are just to die for. Very classic, very pure.

 

[Gymbow]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

My first choice to pair up with the PG is the Kinman Blues zero-hum pickups. But, I'm unclear just how well these would match up against the PG. Here are a couple examples of the Kinman Blues, although not with a PG in the bridge position. I'd appreciate any comments on this combination.

Clean1: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oJkeyaoKTWc
Clean2 (starts at 9:45): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WJO8eBVFNxs
With Distortion: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=31YDHtxUrCM

 

[jeremy]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

kinman makes great pups but im not familiar with that set or how they might work the pg

 

[Gymbow]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Update:

I received feedback from Kinman saying the Blues pups for mid/neck would not balance well with most Humbuckers. He suggested two higher output pups, neither of which I liked anywhere near as much as I liked the Blues pups.

Since I'm set on having a Pearly Gates Trembucker in the bridge, I have a dilemma. Either I accept the imbalance with the Kinman Blues or I look for another noiseless option. The only other option I've come across as a backup to the Kinman Blues is the Duncan Vintage Hot Stack Plus pups, which have a higher output and sound good, but I like the Kinmans better.

I'd appreciate your comments / suggestions.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

Go with what you like/want, you can tweak imbalances.

I've paired lower and higher output pickups together and had great results (love the Dimebucker and Screamin Demon combo.)

 

[donaldr]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

The PG is a favorite of mine.
Here’s what one can sound like in a Strat if you can really play:

As you can see, PG bridge is not overpowering SSL-1.
To compare, here's another video from James Ryan with a Screamin Demon in the same guitar:

 

[Mincer]

Re: Need Help with Pearly Gates Trembucker

The Classic Stacks would be my choice, but I am sort of biased. Those are some of my favorite pickups. I like them either by themselves or along with a humbucker like the Pearly Gates.